Wasps coach Trevor Woodman was muted in his praise after his side edged out Sale Sharks 33-26 at Adams Park.

Dave Walder kicked 23 of his side's points, with Riki Flutey and Joe Simpson crossing for second-half tries to keep at bay a Sale comeback after they had trailed 15-0 at half-time.

And Woodman said: "We are pleased with the win but the performance was a little bit mixed, some of our game management needs to improve and not play too much in your own half when you're 15 points up."

Walder, who reached 1,000 points in the Premiership with his third penalty, said: "It's a great achievement but I was disappointed to miss the last kick. We managed to keep them at arm's length."

Asked about his future plans, he said "I haven't finalised anything yet but it looks like Japan."
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond was frustrated after his side, for whom Ben Cohen and Wame Lewaravu scored tries, once again offered too much of a head-start to their opponents.

"Our discipline was poor in the first half; we gave away cheap penalties, there were 15 of them in total," he said. "We had a chat at half-time and our second-half performance was very good."

Relegation rivals Newcastle and Leeds both won, but Diamond said, "We've come away and picked up a vital bonus point. We have Leeds at home in a fortnight's time and we must win that game."